Electronic reports may include static text and dynamic text. Static text is text of an electronic report that does not change from one version of the electronic report to another version (e.g., “boilerplate”). Dynamic text is text of an electronic report that may change from one version of the electronic report to another version. In some cases, the dynamic text may be provided from a source outside of the electronic report, such as a database field, an expression, a web service, or another external source. Techniques are desired for defining strings of static text that are interspersed with strings of dynamic text in electronic reports.
A “mail merge” tool is a type of tool that enables multiple versions of a report to be generated from a base document that is a combination of static text and dynamic data. Mail merge tools are typically used for creating personalized letters, pre-addressed envelopes, and/or mailing labels for mass mailings. Some examples of word processors that include mail merge capability include WordPerfect®, published by Corel Corporation of Ottawa, Canada, Microsoft® Word, published by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., and Lotus® Word Pro®, published by IBM Corporation of Armonk, N.Y.
Currently available mail merge tools, however, have undesirable limitations. Examples of such limitations include a lack of control over the appearance of the contents of various versions of a document, inflexibility in document formats, and difficulties in binding dynamic text with external sources of data.